Improvement in bee-hives



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HIRAM F. ROI-IM, OF WEST PROVIDENCE, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 107,628, dated September 20, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HiRAM F. Roan', of West- Providence, in the county of Bedford and in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and .useful Improvement in Bee-Hives, termed the Independent Cluster;7 aud do hereby declare that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, hereinafter-referred to, forms a full and exact specification of the same, wherein I have set forth the nature and principles of my said improvement, by which my -invention may be distinguished from others of a similar class, together with suoli parts as I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent.

My invention relates to bee-hives; and the nature thereof consists in certain modiications-in the details and improvements in the construction of the same, hereinafter more fully set forth, whereby the bees may gather in independent or separate clusters, facilitating access to and removal of the comb-frames containing the honey, and be protected from the cold during the winter season, furnishing comfortable quartcrs7 for the bees at all seasons ot' the year.

In the accompanying drawing, which illust-rates my invention, and forms a part of the specification thereof- Figure 1 represents a view, iu perspective, of my bee-hive, the cover thereof being partially raised;

Figure 2 is a plan View thereof, the said cover and surplus box being removed;

Figure 3V is-a perspective view, taken of the front portion of the same, with its surplus-box and cover removed, and its door thrown up for ingress to the hive; and

Figure 4 illustrates the manner of 'suspending the comb-frames, both 'in' the upper and lower compartments-of the hive.

The construction and operation of my invention are as follows, to wit;

A designates the casing of the hive, which 4is supplied with the door a, hinged to its front portion; and Yhinged to its upper end, at one side, is the cap or casing B, held down on said casing A bythe hook b and eye b, andhavin'g the Ventilating opening b2 and cover b'3 therefor..

G designates Vthe comb-frames, ofthe ordinary shape, and. supplied with the pins or projections, c c, at their upper ends, and on each side.

D D are metallic transverse rods extending through the hive, at or near its frontl and rear ends, in the upper part thereof, and entering the sides of thesame, in which they are rigidly secured and held to receive the pins c c ot' comb-frames C, resting thereon, as seen in iig. 4.

By thus suspending or placing the comb-framesin the hive, it will be observed that any one of the said frames may be removed at pleasure without molestin g or withdrawing its fellow.

To keep the said comb-frames a suitable distance apart, in order to permit the bees to gather therein in separate or independent clusters, by which access thereto, and the removal of the same, may be facilitated, I use the right-angularprojections orbars o c', which are inserted, atone end, into the sides of the said frames, as plainly shown in figs. 3 and 4.

Located between the rods D and the inner sides of the casing A, and between the yend frames of the series of comb-frames C and the inner ends of the said casing, are the removable boards, or inner cas i ing, E, which arc designed for use in cold wea-ther, in order to protect the bees during the samegfrom its effects. v

f e is a trough or trap, furnished with the tliaugularshaped openings e e', out on its outer edge, for the entrance thereto of any insects attempting to get into the hive, said 'trap being placed on the door oi' the hive, directly in front of the 'comb-frames, where the bees enter theA same, the door (t and one ot' the boards E having been first elevated for that purpose.

The said door a, hinged as aforesaid, is held iu vplace -by the hook al, entering the eye a2 0f casing A, and supplied with the knob a3, for opening and`closing4 it, and an aperture, ai, cut on its lower edge, (sce iigs. 1 and 2,) for the egress and ingress of the bees when said door is closed.

Before the door c can be wholly closed the trap or trough e must be removed, `asshown in iig. 1.

Attached around the upper outer edge of the casing A is a flange, consistingof four strips of wood,- I b4, for the purpose of supporting the cap or case B, resting thereon, when closed.

F designates a movable board, placed ou top of the upper edges of the removable boards, or inner casing, E, of the hive, covering the comb-frames C, andsupplied with cylindrical apertures, shown in dotted lines in fig. l, to permit of the bees passing from the lower portion to the upper portion ot' the hive.

Gr represents a bottomless box, termed the surplus-box, resting on the perforated board F, and supplied with a series of comb-frames, constructed similarly to the comb-frames C of the lower chamber of the casing or hive A, and having a similar arrangement of rods, as the saidcasing A, upon which vrest projections, secured to the comb-frames of the said box G, said comb-frames being held apart at suitable distances by means of right-angular projections made and secured therein, as the projections c' c of the comb-frames C.

Access may be had to the comb-frames, and to the surplus-box, to remove them, or their contents, by means of the hinged cap B.

Having thus described the construction and opera-v tion of my invention, I will indicate what I claim,

` and desire to secnreby Letters Patent, in the following clause:

I claim-F The construction and arrangement of the horizontal metallic rods D I), comb-frames C G, provided with projections c c, bars c' c', inner walls E, casing A, trough e, provided 'with angular openings e' e', and vdoor a, when operating as and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my handtliis 5th day of March, 1870.

HIRAM F. ROHM. Witnesses:

MILTON P. MANN, ALEXANDER TATE. 

